“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.”
As the CEB Study Bible points out, unlike a vine in which branches remain; to remain, reside (NET footnote) or abide in Christ is actually up to each of us individually. Analogies are not analogous with everything, but in this case I think it holds: Christ abides is us, but we’re also to abide in him, so it seems to work both ways. Some might argue that the only way one can abide or remain in Christ is because Christ abides in them. That’s surely entirely true. But that doesn’t seem to negate the possibility that we might fail to abide in Christ, and thus be in danger of being one of those branches which are cut off, severed from the true vine, Christ.
Jesus’s promise following is that as we abide in him and his words abide in us, our prayers will be answered affirmatively, and God will be glorified in us in that we will bear much fruit from the vine, Christ, becoming his disciples.
Again, it’s not something automatic, simply done to us so that we don’t have to do anything ourselves. No, it’s up to each of us to abide in Christ. As we do, the fruit certainly comes from him to and through us. And God is glorified, made to be seen and praised in that.
Jesus community 